Staining a maple fretboard?

I got an Essex fretless P-bass with a maple neck and fretboard and think the black fretmarkers are hokey, if not somewhat useful (lol!). Anyhow, I'm considering the possibility of staining the fretboard an ebony color and was wondering if this is feasible and if so how I would go about it. This would make the fretmarkers less noticeable and make my sunburst P look better with the tortoise pickguard I've got coming. Of course I will post pics of the finished product.

thats a lot of work most maple boards are sealed fairly well, you would need to get below the sealant to get the finish to really stick. You can do that with sandpaper, soft grits I might start with 400 and if that doesn't bite enough go to 250. You should also be prepared to get a radius block sander to reshape the neck radius after you are done.

Originally posted by jbay If the fretboard is hard maple (which it probably is), it's not gonna be accepting much stain at all... A more feasible option would be to coat it with a colored hardcoat...

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Why won't hard maple accept stain? I think it would dye fine, but remember that the fingerboard will wear as you play on it. If the dye doesn't penetrate deeply, it will wear away as you play the instrument.

Ok let me rephrase that... Hard maple (say northern hard maple) tends to stain blotchy. And it doesn't always work well even if u use a pre-conditioner. But hey. he's the pro, so he prolly knows better